Beach huts in West St Leonards. SUS-210330-102148001Beach huts in West St Leonards. SUS-210330-102148001
Beach huts in West St Leonards. SUS-210330-102148001

Hastings beach hut boom created by Covid staycations

Demand for beach huts in Hastings has soared as people prepare to holiday in the UK this summer.

Hastings Borough Council, which rents out huts during the summer season, was forced to close to applications after just one day after recieving more than 100 requests within the first hour.

The council has 10 huts available for weekly hire between May 14 and September 17, with people able to apply for as many weeks as they like during that time period.

A council spokesperson said: “We opened applications for our short-term seasonal beach huts online on Monday (March 29) and had over 100 requests in the first hour, which is an incredible response.

“We closed applications the same day after they were so popular and are currently processing them.

“Once all the booking requests have been processed, then we still may have further availability and will reopen applications if so.”

Hastings Borough Council has had a waiting list for long-term beach huts “for some years”, but this has also now been closed because the list is too long.

Nationally beach hut prices have soared, as Brits face the prospect of a domestic holiday this summer.

Property website OnTheMarket discovered that compared with September last year, the average price of a beach hut has increased from £27,805 to £35,919 - a rise of 29%. There are also 60% fewer available for sale now compared with six months ago.

Website pageviews of beach huts also leapt 259% earlier this month compared with just six months ago.

It is estimated that there are around 20,000 huts in the UK, either in private ownership or owned by local authorities.